1. The Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to a system and method for tracking viewing behavior of a home entertainment system. More specifically, the present invention is directed to a method for tracking viewing behavior by monitoring input by a user of a home entertainment system coupled with the use of a tuning device and information obtained from an electronic program guide to generate a wide variety of specific viewing behavior information.
2. The Prior State of the Art
Historically, television has been a source of entertainment for the general public and a medium through which an enormous number of individuals can be reached. Businesses recognize the value of this medium and take advantage of it by annually investing billions of dollars into the purchase of airtime for television programs and commercials.
Because the financial investment into television is so enormous, specific information as to what the public is viewing on television is a valuable commodity. The knowledge of information such as the audience share of television programs allows for the development of marketing and advertising schemes, program schedules, price rates for airtime, retention or termination of television programs, and the creation of new programs desired by the public.
The methods that have been employed to gather information on viewer behavior have been extremely limited as to the amount and type of information that is gathered. By way of example, members of the viewing public can be paid to record in logbooks the television channels they watch during a sample period of time and then mail the logbooks to a central location after the completion of the sample period. At the central location, the channels watched and recorded in the logbooks are manually entered into a database and processed centrally to obtain usable data.
The volume of information that can be obtained according to this technique is inherently limited because viewers are generally not willing to invest large portions of time to register an abundance of information in logbooks. Further, a viewer""s desire to quickly complete the registering of information and the existence of mistakes in the registering process introduces human error into the data sample. The manual nature of this approach coupled with the non-electronic form of the data make it inefficient for use with automated and computer-based forms of data processing. In addition, it is particularly difficult or impossible to gather viewing behavior other than a list of viewing times, channels, and programs.
Another method involves installing devices in the homes of viewers to monitor and record the channels tuned during a sample period. Each viewer of a household is assigned a symbol recognizable to the device and is responsible to select that symbol to indicate that he or she is watching the television. From time to time the device flashes a red light to remind the viewers to select their corresponding symbol. The viewing information, including the channels and the viewing date and time recorded by the devices, is transmitted to a central location. The viewing information is converted into a usable form at the central location by, for example, converting data that identifies the channel to data representing the corresponding television program.
Since the conversion process is performed at the central location inaccuracies result when circumstances take place prior to the performance of the conversion process. Examples of such circumstances include last minute changes in the program schedule, different cable companies placing network stations in different places in the channel lineup, programs that are aired at different times in different locations, and viewers receiving a signal that is broadcast from a different time zone. Moreover, this conversion process can involve a significant amount of data processing, because the television programming that is broadcast on a given channel at a specified time can vary from locality to locality. Furthermore, this method relies on a broadcaster encoding each program for detection by the device and is therefore inappropriate for tracking less popular, locally produced, or exclusively cable-based programming. Therefore, this method is also undesirably limited in the amount and type of viewing information that is obtained.
It would, therefore, be an advancement in the art to generate a greater variety of very specific television programming viewing behavior information. It would also be desirable if such information could provide a more accurate measurement of viewing behavior. Such information would be particularly useful if it could be readily adapted to a variety of television programming, such as local programming, network programming, cable programming, or satellite programming. It would be a further advancement in the art to obtain information relating to the use of interactive television features by a viewer while watching television programming. It would also be an advancement in the art to reduce the amount of data computation required at a central location to generate usable viewing information. Furthermore, it would be desirable to track and measure channel surfing or other similar viewer behavior.
The present invention is directed to a system and method for tracking viewer behavior in a home entertainment system and overcomes the above-mentioned difficulties by being fully automated and providing a greater diversity of specific information regarding viewer behavior of home entertainment systems. The invention recognizes an event initiated by a viewer, couples that event with information obtained from an electronic program guide, and transports the information to a remote site on a periodic basis.
Implementation of the present invention may take place in application specific set-top boxes, cable or satellite boxes, Internet set-top boxes, television sets, personal computers, or any other device that is included in a home entertainment system, has access to an electronic program guide, and has data storage and processing capabilities to perform the operations disclosed herein.
According to one implementation of the invention, the process of tracking viewer behavior is initiated by the occurrence of an event performed by a viewer. The event could include, for example, the powering on of the home entertainment system and tuning to a selected channel. The event is then coupled with specific information that is associated with the programming displayed on the home entertainment system. This information is retrieved, for instance, from an electronic program guide, and can include, by way of example, the title of the program, the episode, the director, the performing actors, the program ratings or any other desired information associated with the program. The information can also include information specific to the channel, such as the channel number, the call letters of the station, the network affiliation, the transmission frequency, and the origin of transmission. The information can also include other specific information, such as data identifying a local station, a network station, a cable station, a satellite station, the location of the subscriber, the date subscribed, a package identification, and a status type.
Another implementation of the invention tracks events that are not initiated by the viewer, but are essential in obtaining a correct measurement of a program""s audience and/or viewer behavior. In particular, a clock synchronized with an electronic program guide can detect when a new program has begun on a channel being viewed. The initiation of a new program on the channel being viewed is an event, triggered automatically by the passing of time, and indicates that the viewer is watching a new program on the tuned channel.
As subsequent events occur, those events are also tracked. Events that would be subsequent to the initial event of powering on the system and tuning to a channel include such user initiated events as tuning to another channel, causing closed captioning to be displayed, initiating the mute function, simultaneously watching multiple programming and simultaneously viewing television programming while using the Internet. Subsequent events also include events that are not initiated by a viewer, such as the ending of one program and beginning of another program on the same channel. Each of the subsequent events is coupled with descriptive information from the electronic program guide.
The date and time that the events are performed can also be monitored and recorded. An electronic device in which the methods of the invention are implemented can be preprogrammed with the current time, date, time zone, week number, and day of the week. Accordingly, detailed viewing behavior, such as the viewing start time, the viewing stop time, the minutes watched, whether the viewing was channel surfing, and the like, can be monitored and recorded in response to viewer input and events performed by the viewer.
The viewing behavior information that has been tracked is stored locally and is periodically transmitted to a remote site. In one embodiment, only the viewing behavior and identifying codes for programs, channels and viewers are required for storage and transmission. In such an embodiment, the viewing behavior and identifying codes can be combined at the remote site with descriptive information about the programming and demographic information about the viewer. This process of tracking, storing, and transmitting viewing behavior information can be performed in home entertainment systems at any number of locations. The viewing behavior information is received from these locations at one or more central sites or clearinghouses, where it can be further processed and made available to any interested entities.
The present invention provides for a more accurate measurement and a greater variety of viewing behavior information. The measurement is no longer limited to the channel number tuned. Moreover, because specific information from an electronic program guide is used at the home entertainment system to compile viewing behavior information, this information is sent to the central clearinghouse in a usable form that is descriptive of the programming displayed to the viewer, rather than merely including only a channel number and a time. By compiling the viewer behavior information locally, the amount of processing required at the central clearinghouse is significantly reduced when compared to conventional techniques. Furthermore, when last minute changes take place in the program schedule, when different cable companies place network stations in different locations in the channel lineup, when programs are aired at different times in different locations, or when viewers receive a signal that is broadcast from a different time zone, inaccuracies do not occur because the processing takes place locally at the home entertainment system.
Additional objects and advantages of the invention will be set forth in the detailed description that follows, and in part will be obvious from the description, or may be learned by the practice of the invention. The objects and advantages of the invention may be realized and obtained by means of the instruments and combinations particularly pointed out in the appended claims. These and other objects and features of the present invention will become more fully apparent from the following description and appended claims, or may be learned by the practice of the invention as set forth hereinafter.